Tyler Schumacher is not only the best pitcher and overall player in the 10th Region. He might be the region’s toughest competitor.
The Campbell County senior pitcher got out of some tough jams to register another shutout in the regional semifinals of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association 10th Region Tournament.
Campbell beat George Rogers Clark 8-0 May 30 in the semifinals at Bishop Brossart’s off-campus athletic complex. Campbell (24-13) plays in the regional final at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 31, against Montgomery County (30-7). GRC finishes 18-15.
The Camels are looking for their first regional title since 2022
“It means a lot,” Schumacher said. “Because last year, we thought we should have won it, and we lost in the semifinals. So its great getting back and winning this time.”
Schumacher allowed two hits, walked three and struck out 10, giving him 107 Ks in 63 innings. He is 8-1 and lowered his 1.16 ERA.
“My fastball was working,” he said. “As the game goes on, I just start throwing harder and getting into my groove. You got to hit it, so I’m going to throw it and make you hit it.”
“Tyler’s been great all year,” coach Scott Schweitzer said. “That’s what he’s done every time out. There’s a reason he’s the 10th Region player of the year. He commands the strike zone; he throws three or four different pitches every time. He’ll tell you six. Ultimately, he commands the zone. He does a great job and he’s a competitor. If he gets guys on first and second, he just turns it up a notch.”
That happened in the bottom of the sixth inning, when GRC got runners on first and second. They got a base hit to the outfield, where center fielder Jackson Bittner threw out the runner at home. Campbell catcher Camden Tiemeier tagged out the runner after a hard collision
Schumacher struck out the next batter on three of his hardest fastballs to end the threat.
Trip Mercurio led the offense with three hits and had a great play at shortstop to help the shutout.
“Just take it the opposite way,” Mercurio said. “Coach told me that all season because when I’m pull-happy, I roll it over or swing and miss.”
Campbell committed one error today, which Schweitzer said needs to happen in the finals as well.
“Make the plays,” he said. “We had one error today on a tough play. If we don’t kick it around, we have a chance to win every time we play. Ten seniors, usually there’s seven on the field at any time. They know what to do.”
Mercurio, a sophomore, is ready to win for them.
“There are only two seniors out of the 10 that are going somewhere for college,” he said. “This means a lot to all of them. This could be their last game tomorrow. You never know.”
Montgomery County beats Scott in second semifinal
The Scott Eagles finished 17-19 with an 8-5 loss to Montgomery County in the second semifinal.
Montgomery is in the regional final for the second year in a row and is looking for its first regional title since 2019. Campbell and Montgomery did not meet this season.
A disastrous fourth inning doomed the Eagles, who were in the semifinals for the first time since 2021 in Patrick Dragan’s second year at the helm.
“It’s a blast,” he said. “You get into this job for situations like this. A chance to play in a district championship, a chance to play in a region semifinal. I’m really proud of our kids. I love our kids. I hope these kids take this and remember this for the rest of their lives.”
Scott took a 5-1 lead in the second inning led by two-run singles from both sophomore starting pitcher Ty Cook and senior Blake Groneck.
Montgomery County (30-7) got two back with a two-run double in the third inning. In the fourth, disaster struck for the Eagles as the Indians scored five runs on just two hits, and one hard-hit ball. They got seven consecutive runners on base with help from walks and errors. Jay Race came on in relief in the middle of this run.
“Just a few bounces here and there,” Dragan said. “That’s baseball sometimes. Sometimes you get the bounces, sometimes you don’t. A couple of hits fell in. We put good pitches on them, but credit to those kids over there. They battle every AB; they’re fouling pitches off. We made really good pitches and they found ways to get pitches they really wanted to hit.”
Senior Jaimen Caba (7-1, 1.79 ERA) started the game on the mound for Montgomery. He was replaced during Scott’s five-run second inning by their junior ace Evan Copher (7-2, 2.68). With Montgomery holding an 8-5 lead in the bottom of the fourth, he was replaced in the middle of an at-bat to keep him under 25 pitches, allowing him to pitch against Campbell County in the finals under KHSAA rules.
A hard thrower with 65 strikeouts in 52 innings, Copher halted Scott’s momentum and could be a challenge for Campbell County.
“It definitely had an impact,” Dragan said. “Any time you bring in a kid that has an arm like he does, who’s really talented, it’s going to change the game a little bit.”
Sophomore Landon Back pitched the rest of the way. Abe Mullins led the Indians’ offense with three hits and three RBIs, giving him 43 for the season.
Scott’s all-tournament picks were Jay Race and Andy Reed.
Scott seniors are Hunter Bradley, Trey Cook, Larken Getz, Blake Groneck and Cameron Routt. Cook hit .374 with 22 RBIs and five homers. Groneck hit .343 with 19 RBIs and had a 2.76 ERA in 25 innings. Getz hit .271 with 17 RBIs. Routt and Bradley played a lot off the bench.
“I love those guys,” Dragan said. “They’re great kids. They’re locked in to every single game, every single AB. We’re definitely going to miss these kids. We’ve got six or seven starters, depending on the day, coming back next year, so it’s really nice to have that. We have guys who have a lot of experience both on the mound and on the field. We’re really excited about that for the future.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Schumacher’s grit propels Campbell County to 10th Region final
Reporting by James Weber, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
